Chocolate and beetroot cake with hot chocolate sauce

Grease and line the base of a 20cm tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan/gas mark 4). Then blitz the beetroot in a blender until pureed.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of water on a gentle heat. Then leave to cool slightly. Meanwhile beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter and sugar, and mix until combined. Stir in the melted chocolate.

Fold in the flour, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. Add the beetroot puree and stir in well.

The cake mix will become a lovely deep burgundy colour, but don’t worry – it will look like chocolate cake once it’s cooked. Pour the mix into the prepared pan and cook for one hour. Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool.

To make the sauce, heat the cream and liqueur in a saucepan and add the chocolate, syrup and butter. Keep stirring until melted and then serve warm, poured over your cake.